The Pacific: "Part Four" Review

A trip to a mental hospital adds new perspective to the series.

It's Christmas time, and the marines in the field are celebrating as best they can on their way to yet another battleground. This time their destination is Cape Gloucester in New Britain. But the focus here is not on battles fought with ammunition, but struggles fought against the insanity-inducing circumstances these young men were thrust into.

After the tender loving scenes of Part Three, the series briefly returns to the frenetic and grisly battle scenes, followed by the horrible duty that is often referred to as "mopping up," as they finish off the dying remnants of the Japanese forces. But the Japanese already gave up the island, and it's the jungle that they have to worry about most. The rain, heat, and disease wears them down.

The suicide of a Canadian soldier adds a graphic element to the story that speaks very succinctly—the conditions are maddening. A few months later, the boys end up in Pavuvu, a tiny little island that doesn't offer much more comfort. Leckie gets an embarrassing and mentally debilitating case of enuresis (bedwetting) that lands him in a mental hospital.

James Badge Dale again does a great job in what is essentially the lead acting role at the moment. He really nails Leckie's rebellious streak when he confronts a superior officer over a theft, but then he quickly turns around and does an excellent job at conveying the frustration and embarrassment of the enuresis problem.

The extended scenes on Banika are an odd but perfect mix of outdoor vistas with bright skies and peacefulness, and indoor scenes full of shadows and despair. The time in the mental ward is spent chronicling the effects of what is most likely the result of post-traumatic stress disorder, something we've seen covered many times in Vietnam-era stories. But the story is a bit different here as the state of psychiatry back in WWII was far from advanced, and soldiers that needed real, effective psychotherapy were simply diagnosed as being "tired". And for the saddest cases, there's the additional humiliation of having to be locked up in what is essentially a make-shift prison on an otherwise idyllic island. It's no wonder that Leckie wants to leave as soon as possible—life in that environment could be just as maddening as in the jungle. But I also get the feeling that there's a certain amount of shame that motivates Leckie to leave and possibly earn redemption back in the real war he came to fight.

As telling as Leckie's part of the story is, it's the plight of poor, pitiable Ronnie Gibson that really sums up the psychological toll the war had on its soldiers. Australian actor Tom Budge does a lot with the little screen time he has. His scene at the end of the episode is very well written, and well directed. Budge's timid yet disturbing demeanor and dialogue delivery made me wish he had a bigger role in this episode. Still, the end result is a haunting story that leaves an impression and perhaps foreshadows some events to come.